Creating SMILES – building the Nation (SMILES)

SMILES is a youth initiative using engineering and technology in an environmentally friendly way for the development of online education, the creation of infrastructure, as well as improved health and job opportunities in the rural villages of Nepal. SMILES uses green energy for electrifying rural villages in Nepal in a reliable, health-sustaining and affordable way, aiming to connect local schools to the global communication nexus via wireless communication technology. Computerized education gives villagers in remote areas the opportunity to increase their literacy and overall knowledge. It also helps students and adults to gain a better understanding of proper sanitation and good health, leading to the construction of public toilets where no toilets existed previously. SMILES aims to create sustainable incomes and community entrepreneurship through increased job opportunities, such as in e-commerce, small scale industry and tourism promotion. SMILES puts a light in every house of the village, brings computers into the villages, provides telemedicine and connects villagers to relatives working far away from home. Enabling education via internet and health care via telemedicine, combined with work in the field of sanitation, will improve the standard of health in rural villages. All SMILES' work is done in collaboration with the villagers, making interventions sustainable and responsive to community needs.